To Vaison-La-Romaine - Three Seasons Around France: Spring - CycleBlaze

April 19, 2022

To Vaison-La-Romaine

About last night

I didn’t want anything to distract your attention from the glory of yesterday’s ride, so I saved for this morning the thrilling story of Rachael’s outing to the laundromat yesterday afternoon.  We returned from our ride right at four, leaving her plenty of time to fit this in before dinner.  She left for the laundromat minutes after we returned to our room, while I offered moral support by heading out to a cafe in front of the cathedral for a beer.  It’s called division of labor.  Knowing that she loathes the taste of beer, I assumed beer-quaffing duties so she didn’t have to.

A half hour later I received a phone call from her.  She’ll be a little late getting back to the room she informs me, because she has only just gotten to the laundromat.  In what she claims as her worst laundry experience she can remember, she walked the 100 meters to the laundromat our host directed her to, only to discover that it was not open, is out of business or didn’t actually exist - I’m not clear on just what the situation was.  She finally found a second one about a half mile away, but it’s been no fun lugging all of our laundry around getting there.

I feel terrible for her of course, and guilty.  By rights I should have shown even more solidarity by having a second beer, but I didn’t even do that.  What a crummy partner!

The Carpentras cathedral.
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In Carpentras.
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I’m acting like I’m taking a surreptitious shot of these two, but what I’m really after is the selfie. It looks like they’re having an interesting conversation, maybe about their spouses and the laundry.
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Today’s ride

Today’s day begins similar to yesterday’s, with a look out our window at the curious mural on the wall across the street.  Similar because we awoke to this mural yesterday also, but different because the sky this morning is overcast and threatening.  Rains are destined to commence soon so we rush through breakfast and start packing, making it out the door before nine.

A very strange mural on the wall opposite. It’s almost creepy having this guy staring into our bedroom.
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Jen RahnI would rate it a couple notches above "almost".

Perhaps 'quite' creepy!
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1 year ago

It’s moving day and we’re off to Vaison-La-Romaine, our base for (at least) the next three nights.  I had a few different ideas about our route for the day, but under the circumstances it’s definitely wisest to take the shortest, fastest one.  We’ve only got a 22 mile ride ahead of us, with limited climbing.  Check-in at our room in Vaison isn’t until 4, but we’re leaving now because the rains are due to begin mid-morning.  If we’re lucky we’ll make it in dry by about 11 and find some place to hide out until our room is available.  In case it helps though, I fire off a message to the B&B asking for an early check-in.  We’ll find out when we get there just how lucky we are.

The ride begins seductively fast, with five miles west on the excellent paved bike path to Jonquieres.  It’s even slightly downhill and there’s no wind, so these first miles quickly zip by.  

Leaving Carpentras.
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On the bike path to Jonquieres. With more time in our day I’d like to have ridden it to its end before turning north to Vaison, but that would add another five miles and doesn’t feel wise.
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After five miles we turn north and follow a series of quiet farm roads that will take us to Vaison.  It’s slightly uphill the whole way, but not so much that it slows us down much.  The big concern though is the weather - we’re still riding dry, but the clouds to the south are dark and coming our way.  It’s a race.  We want to stay ahead of the ran, so there’s no time for photos; but when does that ever completely stop me, Rachael would like to know?

Just this one photo of the Dentelles won’t slow us down much.
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This one won’t slow us down at all, since Rachael can take it with her GoPro.
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We’ll, OK. Two pictures of the Dentelles then.
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And this gloomy study of Ventoux, just to remind us of how lucky we were yesterday.
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Keith AdamsYou say "gloomy", I say "atmospheric". Let's call the whole thing off.
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1 year ago

We’re halfway to Vaison when we feel the first light sprinkles and we’re only six miles from our destination when the mist amplifies to showers as we bike through Sablet just as we’re passing a covered bus stop.  It’s only another six miles, but we do the sensible thing by taking shelter when we see it and stopping to watch for developments.

As we sit there the showers turn to light rain, then back off again.  We check the weather, see that it’s only expected to get worse, and decide we may as well just reesume biking.  In the back of both of our minds is the possibility that we’ll arrive before 11, the checkout time at our new lodging.  If we get there while someone is still around we can play on their sympathies and hope they’ll at least let us stash our bikes for the day.

Let’s stop and watch for developments.
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Looks like rain all afternoon. Might as well keep biking.
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We’re in luck in multiple ways.  The rain backs off as we bike the last miles to town, and has practically ceased by the time we arrive.  And, best of all, our host is in and appears to have been watching for us.  She and her husband just returned from a walk and are wet themselves, so we’re fortunate to have found them in.  We’re shown to the garage with our bikes, and then to our room which is ready for us.  No sitting around shivering in a cafe all afternoon!  Ten minutes after arrival Rachael’s in the shower warming up.

Vaison is an exceptional place, and so is the house we’re staying in - a beautiful old place that feels like it must be many centuries old, in the old, medieval half of the city that Vaison is famous for.  We’ll be here for three nights and may not get much if any biking in because of the weather, so we’ll look around the town later.  In the meantime here are photos from the window of our room to give you the sense of our neighborhood.

The view from our room, Vaison-La-Romaine.
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The view from our room, Vaison-La-Romaine.
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marilyn swettLooks like she's thumbing her nose at the wind?!
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1 year ago
We know what to do with a cold wet afternoon. Sightseeing can wait.
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Ride stats today: 22 miles, 1,100’; for the tour: 947 miles, 45,700’

Today's ride: 22 miles (35 km)
Total: 947 miles (1,524 km)

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Mark HoffmannScott and Rachael,
We again love your photos and excellent commentary on this tour! You've rarely mentioned doing laundry (until today) but we've wondered whether you always use laundromats, or try to choose lodging with an available washing machine and dryer. Or, do you often hand wash in the sink or tub, and hope the clothes dry overnight? We've done mostly the latter, but that takes time, plus the roll-up-in-towels-and-stomp method of drying uses up the towels in the room pretty quickly. Whatever you are doing, it seems very efficient, given the time you also put into journaling, as well as the time spent finding restaurants and eating out.
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1 year ago
Scott AndersonTo Mark HoffmannIn the past we’ve intermixed hand-washing (with all the annoyances that comes with it) with finding the occasional stay at a place with a washer and dryer. This time though through a packing error we forgot to bring any laundry soap along, and have taken two trips to the laundromat. We’ve since picked up some soap so we’ll probably revert to the norm again.
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1 year ago